Distributing apparatus for dispatch systems



March 2 1926.

JAG. MACLAREN DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR DISPATCH SYSTEMS Filed Dec. 12, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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March 2 1926.

J. G. MACLAREN DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR DIS-PATCH SYSTEMS Filed Dec 12, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 o o o o o o o o m o m o o ww o w o o m w m w m w w w o o o o 2;:

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o o o o o o o o w o w 0 o w o m w m w o Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATE 1,575,352 new orrics."

reruns e. MAGLABEN, or MAMARQNECK, new roast, nssrenoia, BY Mnsnn Assren- MEN'I'S, TO THE LAMSON CQIVIPAIIY,

A GOIZI ORATI ON OF MASSACHUSETTS.

DISTRIBUTING ron DrsrArcrr sYs'rEMs.

Application filed December 12, 19a. Serial No. 521,769.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, James G. MAOLAREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mamaroneck, in the county of Westchester and State or New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Distributing Apparatus for Dispatch Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to conveying and distributing apparatus for dispatch systems. One of the objects of the invention is to increase the flexibility and range of opera tion of the central station apparatus used in conjunction with pneumatic dispatch systems such as are employed in department stores for segregating and separately treat ing the cash and the credit transactions that originate at the customers stations distributed throughout the building.

Another object is to so utilize a conveyor belt that a single strand or stretch of the belt suffices to deliver all the arriving car-- riers at the central station to the respective operators whose duties are to take care of the cash and the credit transactions.

Still another object of the invention is to Provide a central station installation in which a 111111111111111 amount of floor space is employed, in which the carriers are safeguarded and protected, and in which a high degree of efiiciency in operation is obtained. I have found that by ploVlCllllg a central and two laterally disposed runways along the upper stretch of a horizontally moving belt conveyor mounted in an Out-of-the-way position above the-heads of the operators, .it is possible to convey cash carriers. de-

posited by sortingdevices in the laterally disposed runways and to distribute the cash carriers to one or lnore'or all of a series of operators stations arranged in pairs in oppositely disposed relation along both sides or a table or desk placed beneath the belt. Means are provided within the control of the individual operators for preventing the delivery of carriers at any given station at will and for causing the cash carriers from both outside ,runwaysto be deposited in either one or both of the oppositely disposed stations of any given set or pair.

In the drawing in which a preferred emhodiment of the invention is illustrated,

Figure 1. is a view in side elevation. and

largely diagrammatic of apparatusembodying the invention.

' Figure 2 is a planview of the device shown in Figure 1. 5 Figure 3 is a view in vertical transverse section of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of a dispatchers station forming part of: the apparatus, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view to larger scale illustrating a switch or diver'er devicev forming an elemento-f the mechanism.

Referring to the drawings for a more detailed description of the invention the delivery ends of three groups of incoming pneumatic dispatch tubes are represented at 5 in liigure' 1. In Figure3 the tubes 5 are shown provided with sorting devices 7 0peratin-g to discharge credit carriers through the lateral outlet Sin to the. central runway 9 of the conveyor belt 10, and to deliver cash carriers through the lower ports 11 into laterally disposed runways 12bearing a flankingrelation to the centrally di posed runway 9 referred to.

Preferably in practice the credit carriers are conveyed to the extremitylil of the belt conveyor where they are deposited in a de livery L chute 14 for delivery at a creditauthorizers station 15, where the credit account of the customer is consulted ported on. The carriers are returned from the authorizers station through suitable It will be seen that-the incoming tubes 5 are arranged in groups for conveniencein handling the carriers. At the terminus of each group oftubes the laterally disposed runways 12 of the belt conveyor are provided with delivery chutes 19 which lead downwardly and; inwardly to deposit cash carriers in the open receptacles 20 within easy reach of the cash handling operators stationedalong the opposite sides of the desk or table 21, which is placed at a convenient height beneath the belt" conveyor housing 22 in a parallel relation thereto.

and re- In the arrangement described it will be seen that in the normal course of operation 5 the carriers from each group'ot tubes 5' corn veyed along the outer runways 12 of the conveyor ,belt will drop from the lateral edges cat the belt into the receiving ends of the adjacent chutes 19 placed near .thelast tube in the group considered in relation to the direction of 7 travel of the conveyor. belt. By this method oi'operation each chute 19 receives all the cash carriers delivered to the corresponding runway 12 by one of the SIX groups of incoming tubeszshown in the drawing. As each chute 19 delivers carriers to .a receiving receptacle. 20, each operator will accordingly be supplied with the car rie'rs received through an incoming group of twenty-one tubes as illustrated; y

In order to take care of operating conditions wherein less than the maximum num her of operators is required, means are pro vided for preventing the delivery of cash carriers into one or more ofthe chutes 19 in the series. This is accomplished by the provision of hinged closure members 23 which may be operated by means of a depending cord 24 or the like to be moved into a gap in the side wall 25 of the conveyor housing 22 coincident with the open end of he chute 19, The closing of the gap in the rousing wall 25 results in preventing the discharge of carriers into the adjacent chute so that the carriers from the particular group'of tubes are carried forward by the belt and are delivered into the chute pertaining to the next group of incoming tubes in advance, unless this chute also isclosed to the admission of carriers, It'will thus be seen that the carriers from more than one group of tubes may be delivered at the star tion of a single operator when the condition of the work so requires.

A still greater factor of flexibility in op eration is'obtained by means provided for causing the carriers arriving through oppositely disposed chutes 19 to be delivered to' either one of the receiving receptacles 20 or to be divided between the oppositely disposed receptacles 20 at the willof the operators. The means referred to takes the form of a gate or switch 26 which through the operating handle 27 may be swung to an intermediate position to cause each receptacle ZOto be supplied by the corresponding runway 19, or to; a position closing the passage to. either receptacle 20; and causing the carriers from both runways 12 to be delivered to the oppositely disposed receptacle 20; It willc thus be seen that not only can all ot' the tubes 5 on one side of the belt be.

made to deliver to one operatorbut all of the tubes on both, sides ofthe belt can be delivcredg to a, station" at either. side. of the operators; table at will.

v The cash carriers having hadtheir contents treated by the opera-tors atthe stations 'QSalong the. table v21, are placed inthe sending. inlets, tor delivery through. tubes 30.

18 already referred the customers staoriginaldispatch.

tubes, a conveyor belt arranged to receive carriers delivered by the several tubes, an operators table below the horizontal plane of the belt, stations at'each side of the table, and means for delivering carriers from the belt to a station at either side or at both sides of the table at the will of the operators.

3. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, sorting devices for separating two classes of carriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor belt arranged to receive all car riers delivered by said tubes, means providing longitudinal runways upon the belt for each class of carriers, an operators table below the level of the belt, stations on opposite sides of the table, and means for delivering carriers from one of said runways to either one oi said stations.

l. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of delivery dispatch tubes, sorting devices for separating two classes 01? carriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor belt arranged to receive all carriers delivered by said tubes, means providing runways extending longitudinally of the belt foreach class of carriers, an operators table below the level ofthe belt, stations on opposite sides of the table, and means fordelivering carriers lrom'one of said runways to either one or both ofsaid stations.

5. In carrierdispatchdistributing appara--- tus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, sorting devices for sep'aratrngtwo classes of arriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor causing all carriers of" one class delivered by said: tubes to be delivered tothe stations at a selected side of the table to the exclusion of the stations on the other side;

' 6. Iucarrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality cit incoming delivery tubes,

sorting devices for separating two classes of carriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor belt arranged to receive all carriers of both classes delivered by said tubes, means providing runways extending longitudinally of the belt for each class of carriers, an operators table beneath the belt, a plurality of operators stations along one side of the table, a plurality of operators stations along the other side of the table, and means for causing all carriers of one class delivered at Wlll by said tubes to be delivered to the stations on either side of the table or alternatively for causing a portion of the carriers oi said latter class to be delivered to stations at both sides of the table.

7. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, sorting devices for separating two classes of carriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor belt to receive all carriers of both classes delivered by said tube, means defining runways extending longitudinally of the belt, runways for each class of carriers, an operators table beneath the belt, a plurality of operators stations along one side of the table, a pin ality of operators stations along the I other side of the table, and means for causing the carriers delivered by the tubes to be delivered to one or more of the stations along one side of the table to the exclusion of the stations on the other side.

8. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, sorting devices for separating two classes of carriers conveyed by said tubes, a conveyor belt arranged toreceive all carriers delivered by said tubes, means defining runways upon the belt for each class of carriers, an operators table beneath the belt, aplurality 01" operators stations along one side of the table, a plurality of operators stations along the. other side of the table, and means for causing the carriers to be delivered to one or more of the stations on one or both sides of the table.

9. In carrier distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a carrier receiving conveyor belt arranged to receive all carriers delivered by the several tubes, an operators table, operators stations located along each side of the table, and means for delivering carriers from the belt to stations at each side of the table.

10.. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a conveyor belt adapted to receive carriers delivered by all of said tubes, a plurality of sets of operators stations, and means for delivering carriers from said beltto one or more of said sets of stations and tor preventing the delivery of carriers from the belt to the remaining'sets of stations.

11. In carrier dispatch distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a conveyor belt arranged to receive carriers delivered by all of said tubes, a plurality of sets of operators stations, and means for delivering carriers from said belt to one or more stations in one or more of said sets of stations.

12. In carrier dispatch distributing appara tus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a conveyor arrangedto receive carriers from said tubes, means for separating carriers delivered by said tubes into two classes, said conveyor being adapted to convey said carriers in their separated condition, a double line of operators stations, means for conveying one of said classes of carriers from said conveyor belt to one or more stations in each of said lines of stations, a station for the other class of carriers, 'and means for delivering said other class of carriers to said last-named station. 7

13. In carrier distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, acarrier receiving conveyor belt aranged to receive carriers from the tubes, an operators table, operators stations located along each side'ot' the table, and means for delivering carriers from the belt to one or more stations at each side of the table. i

14, In carrier distributing apparatus, a

plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a carrier receivlngconveyor belt arranged to receive carriers from the tubes, longitudinally extending separators dividing the belt into a plurality of Ways, an operators table, operators stations located along each side of the table, and, means for delivering carriers from'one of said waysto one or more stations at one .side'of the table and from another of said ways to one or more stations at the other side of the table.

15. In carrier distributing apparatus, a plurality of incoming delivery tubes, a carrier receiving conveyor belt arranged to re-- ceive carriers from the tubes, longitudinally extending separators dividing the belt into two outer and an intermediate way, means for causing the dispatch tubes to deliver one class of carriers into the intermediate way and another class of carriers into the outer ways. an operators table, operators stations located along each side of the table, means for delivering carriers from one of said outer ways to one or more stations at one side of the table, means for delivering carriers from the other outer Way to one or more stations at the other side of the table, and .a separate station for receiving carriers from the intermediate way.

16. A carrier distributing apparatus comprising three parallel runways, means for delivering carriers of one class into the middle runway, means for delivering car riers of another class, some into one outer runway and some into the other, means for moving the carriers longitudinally of the re spective runways,- means for diverting carriers from the outer runways and for delivering suchdiverted carriers to an operator station, and meansfor receiving the carriers moving in the middle runway.

' 1'7 A carrier distributing apparatus comprising three parallel. runways, 'means for delivering carriers of one class into the middle runway, means for delivering carriers of another 'class, some into one outer runway and some into the other, means for moving the carriers longitudinally of the respective runways, ,a pair of operators stations, means for delivering carriers from, the outer runways respectively to the respective stations, and means for receiving the carriers from the middle runway.

18. A carrier distributing apparatus comprising three parallel runways, means for delivering carriers of one class into the middle runway, means for delivering carriers of another class, some into one outer runway and some into the other, means for moving the carrierslongitudinally of the respective runways, means for diverting carriers from the outer runways, operatorsstations, means for determining delivery of such diverted carriers all to the same operators station, or alternatively,a part to one station and apart to another station, and

'ineansfor receiving carriers from the middle runway.

19, A carrier distributing apparatus comprising a plurality of groups of delivery tubes, means for separating carriers deliv ered by each otsaid tubes into two classes,

three runways arranged to receive carriers from the several groups of tubes, the separator means delivering all. of the carriers of one class from each group into the middle runway and the carriers of the other class,

some into one outer runway and'some into thew'otlier, means for moving the carriers along the respective runways, at least one operators station corresponding to each group of tubes, and means for diverting carriers from the outer runways and for delivering them at the operator station.

20. A carrierdistributing apparatus comprising a plurality of groups of delivery tubes. means for separating carriersdelivered by eacli of said tubes into two classes, three runways arranged toreceive carriers fromthe several groups of tubes, the separator means delivering all of the carriers of one class from each group into the middle runway and the carriers of the other class, some into one outer runway, and some into the other, means for moving the carriers along the respective runways, operators stations at opposite sides of and below the level of the runway, and means for delivering carriers from the outer runways respectively to the respective stations.

21. A carrier distributing apparatus comprising a plurality of groups of delivery tubes. means for separating carriers delivered by each of said tubes into two classes, three runways arranged to receive carriers from the several groups of tubes, the separator means delivering all of the carriers of one class from each group into the middle runway and the carriers of the other class, some into one outer runway and some into the other, means for moving the carriers along the respective runways, a pair of saaced o erators stations corres ondin to each group of tubes, and means for divert- JAMES o. MAGLAREN;

ing carriers from the outer runways and 

